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I mean this is great, but it's kind of sad that their revenue stream demands the massive resources (in both financial and human capital) that Apple possesses be focused on producing a slightly better camera.

Yes, so they are obsessed with the tiniest details to make a small improvement. You know what? That's a "Steve Jobs thing" too. Obsession with the smallest of details, regardless of the effort or cost.
 
It is cool. However it is only on iPhone 8 plus and X. I don’t want a bulky 8 plus phone and cannot afforrd iPhone X either




iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X feature advanced cameras with a new Portrait Lighting feature that uses sophisticated algorithms to calculate how your facial features interact with light. That data is used to create lighting effects, such as Natural Light, Studio Light, Contour Light, and Stage Light.

iphone-x-portrait-lighting-800x757.jpg

In a new interview with BuzzFeed News reporter John Paczkowski, Apple says it studied the work of portrait photographers such as Richard Avedon, Annie Leibovitz, and Johannes Vermeer, a seventeenth-century Dutch painter, to learn how others have used lighting throughout history.

"We didn't just study portrait photography. We went all the way back to paint," said Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller.

"If you look at the Dutch Masters and compare them to the paintings that were being done in Asia, stylistically they're different," said Johnnie Manzari, a designer on Apple's Human Interface Team. "So we asked why are they different? And what elements of those styles can we recreate with software?"

Apple said it took what it learned, went into its studio, and spent countless hours shining light on people from different angles.

"We spent a lot of time shining light on people and moving them around -- a lot of time," Manzari added. "We had some engineers trying to understand the contours of a face and how we could apply lighting to them through software, and we had other silicon engineers just working to make the process super-fast. We really did a lot of work."

Schiller acknowledged that Apple aims to make a professional camera, ranked the best among smartphones in a recent review, but he added that the company also cares about what it can contribute to photography as a whole.

"We're in a time where the greatest advances in camera technology are happening as much in the software as in the hardware," Schiller said. "And that obviously plays to Apple's strengths over traditional camera companies."

Apple's software advancements allow anyone to simply pick up an iPhone and capture a high-quality photo, eliminating the learning curve that can come with a high-end DSLR camera from the likes of Canon or Nikon.

"It's all seamless; the camera just does what it needs to," said Schiller. "The software knows how to take care of it for you. There are no settings."

Both the iPhone 8 Plus and iPhone X rear cameras been advanced with larger, faster dual-lens sensors, new color filters, and deeper pixels. iPhone X also has optical image stabilization for both the wide-angle and telephoto lenses, the latter of which has a larger ?/2.4 aperture that lets more light in.

Read More: How Apple Built An iPhone Camera That Makes Everyone A Professional Photographer

Article Link: Apple Studied Paintings and Shined Light on People to Perfect New Portrait Lighting Feature
 
And the best camera is the one you have with you :)
Unless you are doing pro work, a phone camera is more than good enough.
And now they're taking TIME magazine photos with phone cameras.
Exciting times
Yep, the best one is the one with you. But I would say if you’re the “general memory keepsake” picture taker then absolutely the smartphone camera is the best. However there are many people, like myself, who photograph sports, wildlife, etc. so we are firmly in the enthusiast ranks that smartphones can’t as yet touch.

I agree, exciting times. And if the Japanese camera makers had any sense of software or what the customer would actually want it would be a very different game. I’d love to see more powerful cameras become an extension of the smartphone (but disconnected) rather than in competition.
 
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Thats exactly what Ive been feeling ever since they first showed it on stage. Im sure the tech behind it is amazing but the results look cheap and artificial. (And its going to get less and less impressive as more people post these shots)

Anyway, i like the tech. I just dont like the results.
Fair enough. I agree it doesn't all look great, but it's all still in development. I'm impressed they've done this much and gotten this far with what they're doing.
 
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You could get a really nice camera with a lens or two for $1k. Maybe even a proper off camera light.
As has been said countless times, the best camera is the one you actually have with you. If you have a terrific DSLR sitting at home, it's absolutely useless when that great photo opportunity presents itself at the park.
 
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I can just imagine a bunch of software & hardware engineers in a room fiddling with lights trying to figure out lighting. I hope there was a least ONE professional photographer in there telling them how to light stuff.
 
I can just imagine a bunch of software & hardware engineers in a room fiddling with lights trying to figure out lighting. I hope there was a least ONE professional photographer in there telling them how to light stuff.

I bet you that's not how it went.
 
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I have yet to get any kinds of special effects built for human faces to work on my cats. I'm talking about my attempts to use my Samsung S8+ filters to put hats on my cats. Shhh...don't tell anyone I tried. ;)
Ha ha, better you do it with a filter than a real hat!
GrumpyMom will have a GrumpyCat!
 
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Seriously, the effort Apple puts into even the smallest of things is great.

Also, the effort of some posters to crap on everything Apple does is pretty incredible, too.

Why does Apple have to be so melodramatic about everything. It's all hyperbole and hyperactive buzzwords.

In my high school photography class we studied paintings and shined lights on people. When I took college courses in the subject; 95% of what we did was study paintings and photographs and shine light on objects and people. The other 5% was actually shooting things.
 
Another gimmick like 3D Touch and iMessage effects. Samsung would never have thought of this. And Google is probably laughing at such a gimmick when Android has split screen and a dynamic home screen and not just a grid of static icons. I can see the weather on the home screen which is super important every time I unlock the phone.
 
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How many people are buying a phone outright? If I get an X it will be $50/mo.
http://mashable.com/2017/09/11/apple-iphone-upgrade-program-not-worth-it/
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Its more of an upgrade than just the camera.
I'm upgrading from a 6 to the 8+ so it will be a nice jump up in everything.
Will probably upgrade to the SEX)special edition X version next year.
Its not $1000 either. I got $300 for my 6 so the payment add on is only $17.50 a month.
You probably pay more than that a month for your lattes :)
Yeah, I get it, but the incremental updates haven't been worth the money over the last several years. Yes, they're upgrades, but the value just hasn't been there. I still have a 6. Ironically, if I upgrade at all, I feel like the X is the only way to go. I'll be paying a lot, but at least it will be the greatest incremental improvement over the 6 I can get for my money.
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I get what you’re saying in terms of bigger challenges they can tackle, but we don’t know how much of their billions are going towards building better cameras.

But we do know they’re working on health tech and AR that could have a big impact on society, and a lot of it is fueled by the improved cameras which society clearly places a high value on.
I hope so. From a business perspective, they're making the right call, it's just kind of a shame. Lot's of brainpower going toward ad serving devices (that have some other relatively useful features too).
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Seriously, the effort Apple puts into even the smallest of things is great.

Also, the effort of some posters to crap on everything Apple does is pretty incredible, too.
Some would argue, and do - quite reasonably, they're putting all this effort into small things simply because they can't think of anything else to put into a new model to sell. And reasonable arguments aren't crapping.
 
It can cut hair unnaturally. It may be good at some point in the future, but it's not 100% there yet. No substitute for studio lights.

Sure it can, but like any camera, it requires the right conditions to capture a great photo. If you understand how it works, you learn how to maximize it's potential. And for a device that's in your pocket that you keep with you all the time, this capability, and the kind of image you are able to capture is mind-blowing.
 
Yes, so they are obsessed with the tiniest details to make a small improvement. You know what? That's a "Steve Jobs thing" too. Obsession with the smallest of details, regardless of the effort or cost.
Unless it's because they can't think of anything else to put into a new device they want to sell every September and what amounts to a relatively small improvement has relatively low levels of utility.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan or I wouldn't be here. It just seems more obvious every cycle that this current administration is hard-selling us Apple "innovation" when the new tech really doesn't end up being that much more useful than what it's meant to replace.
 
3D touch is pretty good and I use it very often. iMessage effect is useless to me but I like sharing features

Another gimmick like 3D Touch and iMessage effects. Samsung would never have thought of this. And Google is probably laughing at such a gimmick when Android has split screen and a dynamic home screen and not just a grid of static icons. I can see the weather on the home screen which is super important every time I unlock the phone.
 
Hence, "beta"
Yes, but there’s no substitute for adding proper lighting. Making existing lighting computationally nicer is a help but even the old Dutch masters knew that you need additional light sources. There’s a reason why a lot of good portraits use more than 1 light source. You might have one main light, a hair light, a reflector to bounce some light into the shadows, and sometimes lights and flags to control the background lighting. Computational photography can’t solve that problem.
 
Another gimmick like 3D Touch and iMessage effects. Samsung would never have thought of this. And Google is probably laughing at such a gimmick when Android has split screen and a dynamic home screen and not just a grid of static icons. I can see the weather on the home screen which is super important every time I unlock the phone.

You made a similar quote yesterday and were proven wrong why it's not a gimmick. I don't believe Apple ever intended or create 3D Touch to be a gimmick. This Company truly believes in the little features that make the user experience more convenient with simplicity. And that's what 3D Touch is, a convenience and short cut that is useful for those who appreciate it. I don't think the word "Gimmick" appropriately describes 3D Touch at all. It's just you don't find it useful, but don't short sell this feature because you Don't like it.
 
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$1,000/year for a slight camera upgrade? really?
Most people are still purchasing every two years and to them this is a BIG Upgrade and others are Upgrading to Plus for the first time so it's a Super Big Upgrade.
One needs to think beyond himself to be successful.
 
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$1,000/year for a slight camera upgrade? really?

Lol, you know a lot of people that smash their phones to pieces, rendering them worthless, right when they buy new phones??
No??
Neither does ANYONE else here.
Soooooo, since iPhones retain about 80% of their value to resell a year later, your post should more accurately read:
“$150-200/year for a slight camera upgrade, a new battery that hasn’t had 365 charges on it, & the latest gen processor? really?”
 
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